Bill White, others fault Rick Perry for missing debate

White rips into Perry for no-show in governor debate

R.G. RATCLIFFE, AUSTIN BUREAU

Published 5:30 am, Monday, July 5, 2010

KERRVILLE — Gov. Rick Perry, absent from the first candidate face-off of the general election, became the target of the Democratic and Libertarian nominees for governor Monday night as they chided him for being unwilling to take questions from taxpayers.

The League of Women Voters forum before about 275 people at the Kathleen C. Cailloux Theater in Kerrville gave Democrat Bill White and Libertarian Kathie Glass, both of Houston, the opportunity to make their case against Perry without rebuttal. The event was carried only on local television, but was available statewide on the Internet.

White chastised Perry, saying he has run his office as a "political machine" and a "revolving door" for lobbyists. White said Perry wants to avoid accountability for his record of 10 years in office.

"Rick Perry will see how many times he can say (President) Obama and liberal in slick T.V. commercials and see if that will get him by with 51 percent of the vote," White said. "In prior elections, he attacks his opponents with negative campaigns, takes credit for what's good and accepts no responsibility for a lot of mismanagement."

White said Perry should not be allowed to avoid forums where the questions come from citizens in the audience.

"If you don't have the guts to get up here on stage and answer to the taxpayers who pay your salary, then you shouldn't be re-elected governor," White said.

Glass, who opposes national healthcare and believes the state should block its implementation, was equally hard on Perry. She said Perry has talked a good game in opposing federal policies, but she said talk is all he is.

"Our governor may have said some things that sound comforting, but everyone knows ... he doesn't mean it, and he won't do it," Glass said. "You know you're voting for the man you wish he were."

Perry has said he will not appear on stage with White until the former Houston mayor releases income tax returns from the years when he was deputy U.S. energy secretary and Texas Democratic Party chairman in the 1990s.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner called White a "shameful candidate" who worked to limit military voting, "mismanaged the Houston budget and profiteered by steering business to a company he had financial ties with during Hurricane Rita while he was mayor of Houston."

Miner compared White to President Obama and said he did not unveil any new policy initiatives during the forum, choosing instead "to continue a campaign based on personal attacks."

In a later forum for the candidates for attorney general between Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky and Libertarian Jon Roland also criticized Republican incumbent Greg Abbott for not attending the event. Radnofsky said the League should have insisted that he attend.

The event was the second of the day for White, who earlier appeared at the Air Force Village in San Antonio.

In the evening forum, Glass stuck to the rules by not rebutting White, but he debated her statements several times. When Glass called for repealing the state public school sales tax, White said that would eliminate 42 percent of the funding for schools. Glass wanted to limited education to basics, while White said the state needs to create an educated work force for the future.

But both spent a lot more time attacking Perry's record and rhetoric.

White insinuated that there was a link between Perry's investment with a gas company owned by the late Ric Williamson and the state's decision to give a contract to build the now-defunct Trans Texas Corridor to a Spanish construction company. Williamson and Perry served together in the Texas House, and Perry named Williamson as state transportation chairman. Williamson was in charge when the contract was let.

White said the public doesn't know if Perry made money off the "land grab" because the investment was put into a blind trust where no one knows if the partnership was ended.

Glass was critical of Perry and the new state franchise tax. She said the last Legislature exempted businesses making less than $1 million a year, but she said that exemption goes away next year. She said Perry should have made sure the cut was permanent.

“If you’re a small business and you lose money, next year you’re going to get walloped by the franchise tax,” Glass said.